COLUMBUS, Ohio — With his administration under fire and his motives questioned this week for suddenly leaving the long-planned Inner Belt Bridge project shortchanged, Gov. John Kasich on Friday fired back.

And the Republican governor aimed his comments at Cleveland-area leaders, who have accused Kasich of deliberately trying to cripple the city's economic development efforts.

"This is, like, a really hard thing for some people to get their arms around. Some people up in Cleveland have said, 'they stole our money,'" Kasich said during a news conference. "It has nothing to do with that, it has to do with the fact that we are short funds."

The governor also said the timing of the Ohio Department of Transportation's announcement on Tuesday that it was running a $1.6 billion deficit for road projects was not a politically calculated move to drum up support for his unpopular Ohio Turnpike leasing idea, as his critics have asserted.

"You won't believe this because a lot of people view this through a political lens, but let me tell you, this was not done as a result of this whole issue of the turnpike," he said.

Yet that didn't stop Kasich from putting another plug in for cashing in on the 241-mile toll road.

"We're sensitive to tolls, we're sensitive to maintenance, we're sensitive to being responsible to the local (turnpike) communities," he said.

"But I've got to tell you, you get a couple billion dollars from either bonding against the revenue stream or you get a couple billion dollars from leasing it for a period of time where we maintain underlying control," he said, then "we have to absolutely look at that."

Kasich also tied the turnpike proposal to the lack of funds for road projects last week during a meeting with Plain Dealer editors and reporters. In discussing the possibilities for the turnpike, he referred to the "tremendous shortfall we anticipate" for road projects.

Gary Suhadolnik, a former executive director of the Ohio Turnpike Commission, has expressed skepticism about Kasich's motives, suggesting that the governor is using an old political ploy to try to force Northeast Ohio leaders who oppose the turnpike leasing idea to flip their opinions.

Suhadolnik, a Republican, recalled serving in the Ohio Senate with Kasich in the early 1980s when both voted against a tax increase supported by then-Gov. Jim Rhodes. Rhodes then applied pressure by saying without the tax hike, college tuition would go up and homes for the mentally disabled would close.

Suhadolnik suspects Kasich is doing the same thing by using the Inner Belt Bridge as his pawn. "This is probably some effort to drum up support for the turnpike," Suhadolnik said on Tuesday.

ODOT's bombshell not only left the second phase of the Inner Belt Bridge facing an indefinite delay but could also stop other projects in Cleveland, like converting the West Shoreway into a boulevard, which could kill plans for a high-end residential development tied to it.

It has all left Cleveland leaders feeling blindsided and angry with the administration and worried over potentially decades-long gridlock that could emerge from a half-completed bridge into the heart of the city.

Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson on Wednesday called it"disrespectful and another example of the disinvestment in Cleveland." City Councilman Matt Zone promised a "firestorm of protest" aimed at the administration.

Kasich said don't blame him -- blame his predecessors who he says falsely promised infrastructure money would be available when they should have known it would not.

"Look, for many, many governors' terms, Ohioans have been misled, plain and simple," Kasich said. "'You want a project, we'll get you a project, don't worry about it.' Well we're $1.6 billion short."

Kasich said he directed ODOT director Jerry Wray to end the charade and he did.

"To just continue to mislead people and say this is going to happen when it is not likely to happen in our lifetime is not right, it's not fair and we're not going to do it anymore," Kasich said.

"This is the reality of the situation," said the frustrated governor. "I thought we should be clear about that because this story has been getting out of control."

While Kasich blamed previous governors for over-promising funds for ODOT projects, it is worth noting that Wray previously served as ODOT's director from 1991 to 1999 under governors George Voinovich and Bob Taft. Also former Gov. Ted Strickland, when he took office in 2007, raised concerns over whether ODOT had enough money to cover planned projects.

Kasich does have one other option. He could call for an increase in the state's gas tax to boost that revenue. The state also receives funding from a federal gas tax.

"I look at this as the perfect poster child and the perfect advertisement for the need to increase the gas tax," Cleveland State University economist Ned Hill said this week. "It is clear that the gas tax has not kept up with the wear and tear of the roads. I understand not wanting to raise taxes, but we need an increase."

Kasich said he has no idea whether the federal government is considering raising the gas tax but he quickly dismissed any thought that the state would.

"We're not raising taxes in Ohio," he said. "We want to be competitive."

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